Heat absorber and its fabrication

ABSTRACT

A heat absorber is constructed to have a heat-absorber plate and a liquid cooled tube, the liquid cooled tube being curved circuitously on a common plane that is closely attached to the top surface of the heat-absorber plate, and then welded to the top surface of the heat-absorber plate. By means of the design of the liquid cooled tube, heat-transfer fluid can flow through the liquid cooled tube, and no additional sealing gasket is necessary to prevent leakage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a heat absorber and more particularly, to such a heat absorber, which is practical for use in a computer. The invention relates also to the fabrication of such a heat absorber.

2. Description of Related Art

In a computer, the main heat-generating electronic device is the CPU. In order to effectively dissipate heat from the CPU of a computer, a cooling apparatus shall be used.

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional water-cooling type cooling apparatus for this purpose. This structure of water-cooling type cooling apparatus comprises a heat absorber 91, a water tank 92, and a heat sink 93. The heat absorber 91 is adapted to absorb heat from the CPU, for enabling absorbed heat energy to be transferred through a heat-transfer tube 94 to the heat sink 93. The water tank 92 is adapted to store a heat-transfer fluid.

The aforesaid heat absorber 91, as shown in FIG. 2, is comprised of a heat-absorber plate 911, a gasket 912, and a top cover plate 913. The heat-absorber plate 911 has a detoured fluid passageway 910 formed in the top wall. The gasket 912 seals the detoured fluid passageway 910, preventing leakage. This structure of heat absorber is complicated. Further, the gasket 912 wears quickly with use. When the gasket 912 starts to wear, the heat-transfer fluid will leaks out of the heat absorber 91.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is therefore the main object of the present invention to provide a heat absorber, which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture and, which effectively prevents leakage. It is another object of the present invention to provide a heat absorber fabrication method, which is practical for making an inexpensive heat absorber that prevents leakage.

To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the heat absorber fabrication method comprises the steps of: a) placing a liquid cooled tube on the top surface of a heat-absorber plate, the liquid cooled tube being curved circuitously on a common plane that is closely attached to the top surface of the heat-absorber plate; b) providing a solder to the top surface of the heat-absorber plate and the liquid cooled tube; c) heating the heat-absorber plate and the liquid cooled tube and the solder to melt the solder and to let the molten solder fill up capillary gaps in between the heat-absorber plate and the liquid cooled tube; and d) cooling down the heat-absorber plate and the liquid cooled tube to harden the solder and to let the hardened solder be bonded to the heat-absorber plate and the liquid cooled tube. Further, a heat absorber structure made according to the present invention comprises a heat-absorber plate, and a liquid cooled tube. The heat-absorber plate has a top surface. The liquid cooled tube is welded to the top surface of the heat-absorber plate, having two distal ends respectively terminated in an inlet and an outlet. Further, the liquid cooled tube is curved circuitously on a common plane that is closely attached to the top surface of the heat-absorber plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a conventional water-cooling type cooling apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a heat accumulator according to the prior art.

FIG. 3 is a heat accumulator manufacturing flow chart according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a heat accumulator according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an elevational assembly view of the heat accumulator shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 3 is a heat accumulator manufacturing flow chart according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a heat accumulator according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is an elevational assembly view of the heat accumulator shown in FIG. 4. The fabrication of a heat absorber is described hereinafter.

At first, place a liquid cooled tube 1 on the top surface 21 of a heat-absorber plate 2 (SA). The liquid cooled tube 1 curves circuitously on a common plane 11, which is closely attached to the top surface 21 of the heat-absorber plate 2. The liquid cooled tube 1 may be flattened by a press or the like to increase the contact area between the liquid cooled tube 1 and the top surface 21 of the heat-absorber plate 2.

Thereafter, provide to the heat-absorber plate 2 and the liquid cooled tube 1 a solder 3 that has a melting point lower than the liquid cooled tube 1 and the heat-absorber plate 2. According to the present preferred embodiment, the solder 3 is a weld rod of P/Cu. The solder 3 weld rod of P/Cu is properly cut subject to the length of the liquid cooled tube 1, and then put on the top surface 21 of the heat-absorber plate 2 and the liquid cooled tube 1 (SB).

After the solder 3 has been put on the top surface 21 of the heat-absorber plate 2 and the liquid cooled tube 1, the heat-absorber plate 2 and the liquid cooled tube 1 with the solder 3 are put in a furnace (not shown) and then heated (SC). According to the present preferred embodiment, the furnace is a brazing furnace that can heat the liquid cooled tube 1, the heat-absorber plate 2 and the solder 3. Because the melting point of the solder 3 is lower than the melting point of the liquid cooled tube 1 and the heat-absorber plate 2, the solder 3 is melted at first, and the molten solder flows into capillary gaps between the top surface 21 of the heat-absorber plate 2 and the periphery of the liquid cooled tube 1.

At final, cool down the liquid cooled tube 1 and the heat-absorber plate 2, thereby causing the solder 3 to be hardened and bonded to the heat-absorber plate 2 and the liquid cooled tube 1 (SD). The desired heat absorber is thus made. The heat absorber can be attached to a semiconductor heat-generating device, for example, a CPU 4, to absorb heat from the CPU 4.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5 again, a heat absorber structure made according to the aforesaid manufacturing process comprises a heat-absorber plate 2, and a liquid cooled tube 1. The heat-absorber plate 2 has a top surface 21. The liquid cooled tube 1 had a flat shape in section and welded to the top surface 21 of the heat-absorber plate 2 with a solder 3. The liquid cooled tube 1 curves circuitously on a common plane 11, which is closely attached to the top surface 21 of the heat-absorber plate 2. Further, the liquid cooled tube 1 has two distal ends respectively terminated in an outlet 12 and an inlet 13.

According to the present preferred embodiment, the liquid cooled tube 1 and the heat-absorber plate 2 are respectively made of copper for the advantage of good heat conductivity, i.e., the heat-absorber plate 2 is a copper plate and, the liquid cooled tube 1 is a copper tube. Aluminum or other suitable metal may be used to make the liquid cooled tube 1 and the heat-absorber plate 2.

As indicated above, the invention simply uses a heat-absorber plate 2 and a liquid cooled tube 1 to make a heat absorber, and therefore the manufacturing cost of the heat absorber is low. Further, because the invention uses the liquid cooled tube 1 to deliver heat-transfer fluid, no additional sealing gasket is necessary to prevent leakage.

Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 

1. A heat absorber fabrication method comprising the steps of: a) placing a liquid cooled tube on the top surface of a heat-absorber plate, said liquid cooled tube being curved circuitously on a common plane; b) providing a solder to the top surface of said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooled tube; c) heating said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooled tube and said solder to melt said solder and to let the molten solder fill up capillary gaps in between said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooled tube; and d) cooling down said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooled tube to harden said solder and to let the hardened solder be bonded to said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooled tube; wherein said solder is a weld rod of P/Cu that has a melting point lower than said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooled tube.
 2. The heat absorber fabrication method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said liquid cooled tube has a flat shape in section.
 3. (canceled)
 4. The heat absorber fabrication method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said step c) to heat said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooled tube and said solder is performed in a furnace.
 5. The heat absorber fabrication method as claimed in claim 4, wherein said furnace is a brazing furnace. 6-10. (canceled)
 11. A heat absorber fabrication method for manufacturing a heat absorber for a computer processing unit comprising the steps of: a) placing a liquid cooling tube on a top surface of a heat-absorber plate, said liquid cooling tube being curved circuitously on a common plane; b) providing a solder to the top surface of said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooling tube; c) heating said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooling tube and said solder to melt said solder and to let the molten solder fill up capillary gaps in between said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooling tube; and d) cooling down said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooling tube to harden said solder and to let the hardened solder be bonded to said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooling tube; wherein said solder is a weld rod of P/Cu that has a melting point lower than said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooling tube.
 12. The heat absorber fabrication method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said liquid cooled tube has two flat and opposed surfaces in cross section.
 13. The heat absorber fabrication method as claimed in claim 11, wherein said step c) to heat said heat-absorber plate and said liquid cooled tube and said solder is performed in a furnace.
 14. The heat absorber fabrication method as claimed in claim 13, wherein said furnace is a brazing furnace. 